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You Are At The Archives for September 2010

As my friends and family know, my life is littered with confetti of unfortunate events and situations. Sometimes these situations occur completely in result of my own poor choices and other events are the fault of the cosmos.

Like the time I found myself trapped in a room for 45 minutes with 120 veiled, old ladies at their 35th Catholic Nun reunion.

Or the time I gave myself food poisoning after eating some leftover fish that was not refrigerated.

Or the time I went on a date with a guy I met at a bookstore. He turned out to be a very unstable, 28- year- old man, still living with his mother. Oh yeah, he was also the first and last practicing Wiccan I’ve ever dated.

Really this list could go on and on (honestly, I could spend an entire day on just my own food poisoning encounters... over half are sadly from my own cooking), but my life seems to have mellowed out for the time being. Nothing completely unfortunate has happened to me since moving to Wisconsin. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve encounter my fair share of strange and interesting people and had more than a handful of uncomfortable situations in the last month, but nothing truly unfortunate.

Until this morning. Pandora’s box has been opened yet again.

Let’s start with some important details:
I love bread. I will shameless admit that I have polished off an entire loaf in two days, maybe less. I also love peanut butter. So naturally in the mornings I like to enjoy some toast with peanut butter. Breakfast of Champions.

This morning while my bread was toasting and I was blissfully enjoying the aroma of hot bread and coffee, I reached into the cabinet for the peanut butter jar. Not just any peanut butter, but White Chocolate Wonderful. One of the best peanut butters you can buy.

As I opened this brand new jar of peanut butter, I notice that the protection seal under the lid had been opened. “Hm, maybe I already used some?” I stupidly thought to myself.

And then the true reality set in, a customer had scooped a giant finger full of White Chocolate Wonderful right out of the jar!!

I was shocked and disgusted. Who does that? Who eats peanut butter out of a jar at a store?! Come on, that’s something you do at home (with a spoon), usually while wallowing over a newly ex boyfriend by spending an entire weekend watching all four seasons of Felicity in a pair of fat pants.

To whoever stuck his finger in my peanut butter and ruined this month of mellowness for me, I would like to congratulate you. You successfully horrified and disgusted me. I will, for now on, check every jar of peanut butter for finger scoops. Shame on you with your sticky, peanut butter finger. Shame on you.

I love everything about Fall. From the leaves changing to cooler weather, the fun holidays, wearing jackets and long sleeved shirts, buying pumpkins and the list goes on and on. Is there anything to not like about Fall?

This is a tree across my apartment complex. I just know in the next couple of days it's going to be bright with red and orange leaves. Just looking at it makes me want to scarf down a caramel apple.

Fall always seems like such a peaceful season, which is weird because it's usually extremely stressful and overwhelming with school and concerts. Actually, I'm not really sure why I think it's peaceful? Maybe it's because I tend to do a lot of baking in the Fall. The cooler weather makes me want to get in the kitchen and start baking (I'm sorry Ani DiFranco and Betty Friedan. I meant this in a firmly "independent woman" kind of way). This is the first year that I've had a kitchen the size of a closet though. So baking might be more a little more challenging. I'll let you know how it goes.

OK, so these pictures don't really look like Fall but I thought I'd include them. The first one is a picture from a hill on campus looking down on State Street (behind the trees) and the Capitol. The second picture is the Humanities Building which includes the Music Department and the other Fine Arts departments. It's huge building and a little confusing (I've been lost more times than I can count... but you probably already knew that, right?).

I hope you are all enjoying the beginning of Fall as much as I am. Check this out to see the campus in all the seasons (the pictures were taken from the top of the Humanities Building).

I've been living in Madison for about a month now and I'm finally starting to find my way around. School started and I don't seem to have as much time to go exploring. But I've been taking some pictures and I thought I'd share them with you.

Welcome to my house! Well it's not really just mine, I share it with about 30 other people. So, welcome to our house! While I was taking this picture the song "Our House" by Madness was playing in my head. I wish the people in my apartment complex were like the people in this music video. Click here to watch it.

If you walk about three blocks from my apartment there is a small park with a great view of one of the lakes. Being so close to a lake is really exciting for me. While growing up in Missouri, the closest lake was the Lake of the Ozarks with it's exotic vegetation (i.e. E Coli). So I'm going to make the most out of my new scenery. I've decided I really need to get a boat... or know someone who has a boat. I picture myself like this:

Playing records, wearing a cute sailing outfit and Humphrey Bogart. However, while I was picturing this tranquil scene with Bogart, my mind decided to ruin it by flashing this shot into my head:

I understand that sharks don't live in the lakes of Wisconsin but when I think of boating, I think of Jaws. What can I say?

The Madison Farmers Market is open every Saturday and it surrounds the Capitol square. There are stands selling vegetables, fruit, honey, spices, flowers, crafts, jewelry, and the list goes on and on. You could spend your entire morning at the farmers market. Luckily I live four blocks away from the Capitol and I can just walk to the market.

The first picture is right outside my apartment complex. Unfortunately, the best spot for pictures in is the middle of the road. (Yes, it was a close call. But I got the picture, right? Totally worth it!)

The first picture is the restaurant Ella's Deli and Ice Cream Parlor. It's always full of families with lots of kids because of the giant 1920's carousel out front. I wish I could recommend it but I haven't been there yet. I feel as though I would look creepy sitting alone at a table watching all the kids ride the carousel (sigh, to be young again). So I'm waiting to go with my family or some friends. The second picture is my favorite coffee shop so far, Michelangelo's Coffee Shop on State Street. State Street is the main drag in the downtown area. It runs from the college campus straight to the Capitol. It is considered one of the main attractions here because the unique shopping and wide variety of restaurants.

State Street is a pretty interesting place. The best things I've seen so far I don't have pictures of, unfortunately. Like the juggling club (that couldn't seem to juggle) practicing in the street, or the number of street musicians ranging in talent from really good to mediocre. My favorite was the accordion folk singer, she was singing some pretty interesting lyrics and was definitely the best of the bunch. I always feel thoroughly entertained after leaving State Street.

You may not know this but I have several irrational fears. Some of these fears stem from childhood events and others have been acquired more recently. No matter where these fears started they all have one thing in common... they are irrational.

For example, during my undergrad in St. Louis, MO I lived in a really nice two bedroom apartment. One of the rooms was used as my bedroom and the other I used only for storage. The thing is, I was terrified of this spare bedroom. It had a creepy closet and the floors were really old so they were always groaning and creaking. Of course during the day time I never really thought about the spare bedroom, but at night? Well, at night was a different story. I swore to all of my friends that it was haunted. During this time I was watching a lot of Lifetime movies. Big mistake, it only contributed to my fear and allowed my very vivid imagination to run amok. In my mind something was lurking in the spare bedroom. Something along the lines of this:

or this:

Yes, the second picture is Patrick Bergin from Sleeping with the Enemy. If you’ve never seen it he plays Julia Robert’s abusive, obsessive husband and he haunted my nightmares for two weeks after watching it on Lifetime. After confiding in a friend, he recommended I get a “live-in nanny” to take care of me. (Not a bad idea.)
But this was five years ago and I’ve since outgrown my fears of empty spare bedrooms. However, I seemed to have acquired a new irrational fear. A fear of My Bathroom Drain.

It’s old, it looks weird, and no matter how much Clorox Bleach or Lime Away I use it always looks gross. When I take showers all I can think about is what kind of creature could be living just below my drain, waiting for it’s moment to strike. This is usually what my mind comes up with:

Why yes, that is the giant sand worm from the movie Tremors. (And yes, it does make me start thinking about Kevin Bacon.) I’m hoping I will soon outgrow my this fear because I don’t have room for a nanny come live with me. But for now... check out the Oracle of Bacon.

Let me give you a tour of my new apartment. I've been living in Madison about two full weeks now and this is what I've done so far with the place. It's a little bare and a little jumbled but it's starting to come together. In real life this tour would take about 30 seconds.

This is a view from the front door. In the bottom left corner of the picture is my bed and then the doorway to the bathroom. Next is a book shelf and the freezer/microwave/coffee maker/toaster area. The kitchen is pretty tiny so all the appliances don't fit. You'll see in a minute. In the meantime, welcome to the dining area! I found this small dining room table at a local antique mall and thought it was really cute. The chair is one I've had for a little while but I put new fabric on it. It's kind of like greenish, blueish, pinkish, impressionistic print.

These pictures I found at a couple of different antique malls (they're hanging above the the small bookshelf). I love old fashion pictures and was thrilled when I found these. The one in the gold frame I found in a collection in Jefferson City, MO and it's by Clarence F. Underwood. The frame I found here in Madison. Isn't it cool?

To the left of the book shelf is a small (really small) hallway. It has built in shelves and a pretty big closet. This leads to the bathroom (I don't have any pictures of that. It seems weird to post pictures of my bathroom...)

Next is the desk area and book shelves. My music is in the wicker boxes in front of my desk. I'm not really sure what to do all of this. It seems cluttered to me with the books and boxes and movies and wires and TV. I was thinking about putting some curtains or fabric up on the shelves to block some of the chaos. Any ideas?

OK, so I guess this needs a little explaining. There isn't very much room in this apartment, so the landlord took out the doors to this long closet so a bed could fit inside. It's actually working out pretty well because it frees up some space. Also, I don't have very much storage so I got these lifters for my bed and I'm putting winter clothes underneath it (they're in space bags). I'm hoping to get a bed skirt soon! Right now I'm using this cute little parlor chair I found as a night stand. I'm planning on getting some fabric and putting a cushion on it.

The kitchen is so tiny I can't really get a very good picture of it. It's not really a kitchen but more of a kitchenette. There is a stove, tall cabinets, and a small beverage refrigerator. I had to get a step stool because the cabinets go all way up to the ceiling. It has a lot more storage than it seems.

This is a shot from inside the kitchen. I was able to hang these cute little cupcake plates my parents got for me a few years ago. I love them and they add a little color to the kitchen.

This is what I have so far with my apartment. I'm actually really liking it despite how small it is. If you have any ideas let me know!